Saturday, March 13, 2010

Have you read the book 'Namesake' by Jhumpa Lahiri? I am sure some of you have probably seen the movie. The movie is very well done but like with any other good books I feel the movie is no match to the book. In a nutshell the book traces the story of a second generation Indian-American son's (named Gogol Ganguli) coming of age years.

The movie is named namesake because Gogol is named after the memory of a rare near-death accident that occurred in his father's life before his father moved to America. Name 'Gogol' for his father resonates with a new beginning, the fact that he survived, the fact that he moved to US and made a new home for his family, a start of all good things! Gogol though is confused and awkward about his identity and heritage. He quite can not have the same feeling of 'home' towards India but at the same time feels a deep void and a disconnect with the western world surrounding him - even his name does not seem his own to him.

He is a namesake for his parents lives and times. The book is about Gogol's journey trying to find where he fits, where his roots are and confronting the biggest questions about his identity. The book so delicately describes the subtleties of an immigrant life!

Anyway, where am I am going with the Namesake and carrot dish... see, I thought for a long time what to name this dish. When I made it I was craving carrot halwa but wanted something much more light, carroty and not creamy or buttery.. so hence came this dish. (Carrot halwa traditionally is prepared by cooking grated carrots in butter and whole milk until the mixture thickens, then some flavorings and sugar are added).

Instead of following the original recipe, I very lightly sauteed carrots in a non-fat milk and water. The sugar is just enough to bring out the carrot taste without being sweet while cardamom and nutmeg are the real behind the scenes stars of this dish. Orange zest adds this delicate citrusy undertones that show up once in a while right when you least expecting it and a good quality saffron for me just pulls the whole dish together! Overall, the dish was light, refreshing, flavorful and surely a guilt-free delight!

I was thinking of naming this dish healthy carrot halwa but I was worried of the inherent comparison I was inviting with the more ubiquitous creamy and rich carrot halwa dish.. see, you will love this dish if you eat it as is, but if you think of this is carrot halwa and eat it then you may surely miss the creaminess and the sugar... its almost like by naming this dish carrot halwa I would impart it with the missing of cream and butter instead of showcasing the stars which are sweet carrot flavors lightly spiced with nutmeg, cardamom and saffron... so, see namesake has its perils, right?

Compared to the traditional carrot halwa recipe this one has very little ghee and little milk (non-fat). Then carrots are not thoroughly cooked like the halwa recipes.. instead they are lightly sauteed in their own juices for 10-15mins. Carrots still had a bit of their crunch left in the final dish.

Deepa from the wonderful blog Foodlyrics had been gracious enough to give me a chance for my very first guest post at Foodlyrics. Thanks Deepa for this awesome opportunity. I thought for a long time about what to write and then settled finally on relating some of my food memories. This topic of how food invokes such strong memories in us and how people relate each other with food as a center-piece has always been near and dear to my heart and it sure was a lot of fun doing a guest post for Deepa. You can read all about it on her blog here.

Amita, yeah, same here.. I like her other books more, but namesake is a nice read the first time around.

Pari, thanks! It tasted really nice, not creamy and very sweet was the only difference from gajar ka halwa, but i liked it as a light dessert.

Treat and Trick, thanks! I liked this light carrot halwa take on the days with heavy dinner :)

Nupur, oh I so agree. I was just telling Amita above that her best work seems to be the short story collections like Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed earth. She has her way with human emotions and relationships. I so much love to (re)read the very first story of Interpreter of Maladies, one where the couple reconnects when electricity goes out.

Pierre, I love carrot desserts.. particularly when they are fresh from the farm.. they are so sweet themselves, make perfect dessert companions :)

This is amazing...i love this post and ur fantastic combis and twists and the way u put it all together...all the best with the BSI ,i still have to read what it is about....and ur blabber is never anything close to senseless....quite the contrary ...u rock babes...have a fantastic weekend PJ

Mia, thanks! okay, to be honest your best of all luck caught me a bit surprised.. i had thought BSI was like a Jihva for ingredient kind of event :D heh heh, didn't know it was more of a competition kind! it'll be fun either way though :) I am so glad you liked the healthy carrot halwa. Have a great weekend ahead.

Nice variant of gajar ka halwa...I love the nutmeg flavor added to the light dessert. I love jhumpa Lahiri. I have read all of her books. She captures the inner most feelings (dark,illicit and secretive ones) so well with her words. I feel interpreter of maladies was her best work though.

Indo, the dish was very carroty when done.. yeah, if you like the halwa with all the carrot taste done then the traditional halwa will be a preferred dish surely; I am opposite, I love the dish to retail as much carroty taste as possible :) thats exactly why the movie wasn't the best for me.. it only portrays one emotions of each character while in the book there are sketches of such complex personalities.

Rachana, so agree; movie is good as is, but if you read the book, the author really is best describing all the delicate feelings and relations and so forth which is not that well defined in the movie.

Preeti, i loved the nutmeg too! like it in most desserts. Oh yeah, interpreter of maladies was by far the best, i like the first story of the book where the couple reconnects when the electricity goes out.. so touching story!

I have 4 little suprises for u on the link below .which jus might be the last at VAnillaStrawberrySpringfields co z i'll be moving to BSM soon....So do hop and see why i think u are a fantastic, creative blogger and my happy pals...cheers and so do hope u enjoy it too.... http://vanillastrawberryspringfields.blogspot.com/2010/03/wedding-stori-valentine-wedding-cake.html

thats a perfect guilt free dessert like the idea of adding oranges and saffron. the book you talked about is my favourite one and though loved the movie but the book still haunts me and I could easily relate to it.

What a wonderful recipe you have created. It looks stunning too! I like that you tried to bring out the natural sweetness of the carrots without adding too much sugar to make it sweet. You really think things through. All the flavors sounds great.

Congratulations on your guest post. I am still too shy to do that. Good for you!

Pedhakka, thanks and welcome to my blog! I am so glad you liked the space and the pics here. I hope to see you again soon.

Mia, aha, i like surprises! I am off to visit yours now! Congratulations on the new space and looking forward to seeing lots more delicious recipes there.

Sayantani, the book is really very good, you must have liked it even more because all of her characters are bengali; i always wish she would pick some Marathi characters next :)

Lyndsey, thanks! I am so glad you liked the recipe and the post. I love the carroty taste of this dish. Thanks for the guest post, I had so much fun writing it, you should do it too, its just a lot of fun :)

Deepa, yeah, the movie was so okay compared to the book. So glad you liked the halwa.

Sonia, hey, no problem! i am always so glad to hear from you :) yes, sugar was very less because mostly i relied on the fresh carrot and the carroty taste. halwa was not mushy. carrots still had a bite at the end. Mom's halwa is always the best, isn't it :) If its your first Jhumpa Lahiri book, then I'll probably suggest Interpreter of Maladies before Namesake.. its a short stories book and by far is my favorite Jhumpa Lahiri book.

A, thanks and welcome to my blog! I am so glad you liked the post and the pictures. Do let me know if you try some of the recipes :)

Padhu, thanks! I am so glad you liked the carrot halwa.

Kanchan, thanks! I have read the book a long time ago, this time I was just thinking what to name this dish and the book came back to me.. so whatever blabber i was thinking, i ended up writing about it :)

That's a wonderful treat PJ :-)I agree with Cham on the saffrom strands :DYet to read Jhumpa Lahiri, of course I have seen the movie, but as you said haven't seen any movies except "love at the time of cholera" which has done at least 80% justice to the novel :-)

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